OXFORD – Matt Kenseth could have assumed he wouldn’t receive as bad a draw as he did last year, but one of the star attractions of Sunday’s TD Banknorth 250 admits he didn’t give it a second thought.
“It’s just the luck of the draw,” said Kenseth. “It doesn’t matter. It’s a really long race. So you can’t get too spun out about starting in back. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
That attitude came in handy again for Kenseth on Sunday. After a lousy draw in last year’s race, Kenseth’s luck didn’t get much better. Kenseth drew No. 37, putting him well back of his qualifying heat.
Fellow Nextel Cup racer Kyle Busch didn’t do much better, drawing No. 20. Both needed the consolation races to earn their way into the field.
Busch started in the 28th slot while Kenseth was 32nd, still better than his 41st position last year.
Though Kenseth battled his way back last year to finish third, he couldn’t duplicate the feat. Busch, meanwhile, put himself in contention early, going from fifth to first in one-plus laps, and held on for a sixth-place finish.
“Sometimes your first go around is your best for some odd reason,” said Kenseth.
It worked out that way for Busch, who raced past Johnny Clark on lap 134 and led the race before Clark retook the lead.
Busch had one of the faster machines during the morning. It was just a matter of making it work in traffic.
“We were handling really well by ourselves out there this morning in practice, but in the two (qualifying) races, we were really tight,” said Busch. “I don’t know why. We tried to free the car up a little bit and tried to make it a little better.”
It was a similar battle for Kenseth, but one he couldn’t overcome. Kenseth avoided a number of collisions and stayed in the hunt for much of the race, but could only crack into the top 10 a few times, finishing 16th.
“We just couldn’t get it to do the things I wanted it to,” said Kenseth. “I was just trying to get it to the turns and be able to turn the way I want it to. It’s hard to find the right mix.”
Kenseth suffered a flat in last year’s consolation heat and was fifth in the last-chance qualifier. Thanks to a provisional, he started 41st and worked his way back before finishing third.
That didn’t dissuade Kenseth from returning to give the 250 another try. In fact, having gone from 41st to third provided a little extra enticement for the former Nextel Cup champion.
“I think that was a lot of it,” said Kenseth. “I’m sure if I came up here and ran terrible and had a bad time, I might not have thought about coming back up right away. But I had a good time. We ran good. The fans were really excited. It was really a fun day.”
Like last year, Kenseth arrived at Oxford on Sunday. He didn’t have to get accustomed to a foreign track, but had a new car to adjust. The car he raced last year was in reserve as a backup car and was loaned to Jim Weymouth after his car was destroyed in a practice session accident Sunday morning.
Kenseth said his new ride was giving him a little trouble early. After countless adjustments and tests during the morning practice sessions, he felt it was shaping up nicely.
Kenseth started 11th in Heat No. 3 and quickly picked up five spots over the first six laps, but he couldn’t gain any more to avoid a consolation race.
In his consolation race, Kenseth seized the third spot and held it to avoid the last-chance consolation race.
“That was as far as I could get,” said Kenseth. “I couldn’t get by anybody else. We weren’t fast enough.”
Busch’s qualifying experience was similar. He started seventh in the second heat but after an early surge, dropped back and couldn’t crack the top four.
“We were up to fourth in the first lap,” said Busch. “Some group got together and wrecked out. Then we started on the outside behind a slow car. We just couldn’t handle the outside the way we needed to.”
In his consolation race, Busch finished second to Donnie Whitten.
“We got down as best we could,” said Busch. “We couldn’t pass the leader and was stuck there in second.”
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